Chapter 5: Ch. 5 Moving Forwards
"You ready Lucas?" Amy asks as she walks up behind him.
Lucas looks back over his shoulder and sees Amy and Andrea walking towards him. So he stands up and grabs his things, he puts his sunglasses on the collar of his shirt. "Ready"
They walk over to the boat and Lucas pushes it into the water a little after they set their fishing gear inside.
"Hop in, I'll push it out a little more and then jump in myself" Lucas holds the boat steady.
Amy and Andrea get in and Lucas pushes the boat farther into the water, only a few feet before getting in himself. He uses a paddle to push off the ground and finally get fully onto the water.
Lucas then begins rowing out to the center of the lake. "So, how do two ladies such as yourselves know how to fish?"
Andrea looks over the side of the small boat and into the water below. "Our father taught us how"
Amy watches as Lucas uses the oars. His shirt giving a perfect view of his muscles as he rows and uses no small amount of muscles to do so. It's a great arm workout after all, and some core of you really get into it. "What about yourself?" She finally asks.
Lucas remembers going camping with his family. "My dad taught me and my brother how"
"Guess we have that in common then" Andrea smiles as she can spot a few fish already.
"I guess so" Lucas says as he continues to row. "I'm 25 by the way, how about you ladies?"
Andrea gives him side eye. "I thought that men weren't supposed to ask a ladies age?"
Lucas shrugs as he brings the oars onto the boat and lets them lean against the edge as they drift forward. "Why is it such a bad thing anyway? I never got that…." He says to himself. He then looks at the sisters. "I just wanted to know since you both seem young. Amy, you look to be younger than me by about 4 to 5 years. And Andrea, you look to be a few years older. Plus us knowing each other's age will make us closer, and I'm kinda struggling to break the ice"
Amy giggles into her hand and looks at her sister. "He thinks your still in your 20s"
Andrea turns and stares daggers at Amy. "And he thinks your younger than 20"
"I take it I'm wrong? I never was able to guess a persons age accurately" Lucas runs his right hand through his hair to keep it off his forehead.
Amy takes her hand away from her face and smiles beautifully at Lucas. "I'm only one year younger than you in about a month"
Lucas raises his right eyebrow. "You're 24? You seem younger"
Amy chuckles lightly. "Hehe~, just wait until you hear Andrea's-"
Andrea elbows Amy lightly. "Don't start that shit Amy" She looks at Lucas and leans on the side of the boat. "I'm…." She murmurs.
Lucas leans forwards. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that last part"
Amy grips her knee tightly. "Jesus! Fine! I'm 12 years older than Amy!" She unhappily repeats herself.
Lucas does some quick math. "You're 35?"
"36" Amy corrects Lucas, which earns her another elbow to the side. "Ow!"
"Don't make it sound like I'm so old!" She complains.
"You certainly look much younger Andrea, so don't worry about it" Lucas gives a bright smile. "I'm glad there are people around my age here"
Lucas gets tired of the awkward silence after a few minutes. They've already begun fishing at this point. "What did you do before?"
"College student" Amy says.
"What we're you studying for?" Lucas asks with genuine interest.
"Literature. But it was Journalism, Media Studies And Communications" She shyly says.
"That's cool. I never did well in my English classes. I was more of a hands on kinda guy. All my papers get marked down so much" Lucas remembers his high school classes. Even when he had to document things in the military he hated it. "What about you Andrea?"
Andrea tugs her fishing rod but nothing is on it. "I was a Civil Rights Lawyer….." She looks down. "I can't believe I'm saying was, it hasn't even been a month yet…."
Nobody talks for a minute. Just the sound of nature and their breathing.
Lucas watches his line. "I was a mechanic"
Amy was trying to find a way to get the conversation out of the ditch and jumps at the chance Lucas just tossed out there. "Like Jim?"
Lucas nods and looks at the sisters. "Yep, car mechanic. But before that I was in the military"
"Really? What part?" Andrea asks, distracted by the depressing point that her old job is useless now that the walking corpses are eating the living.
Lucas takes his left hand off the fishing pole and puts his index finger in front of his mouth as he smirks. "The part where I used to not be able to tell anyone about it. Not. A. Single. Word"
Andrea gives him a disbelieving look while Amy's eyes widen in amazement and shock.
Andrea squints her eyes. "Like SEAL team 6 or something?"
Lucas grabs the fishing pole with both hands. "Or something~" He mysteriously says.
"Well can't you talk about it now? Not like the military is listening to us out here on the water" Amy asks as her mind gets more and more curious.
Lucas leans back. "Not much to talk about. I've done some things I regret. I've seen some things I wish I could unsee. And there are whole portions that I just want to forget entirely…." He sits back up and gives the sisters a smile. "All I will say is that they trained me very well and I was really good at what I did. They even paid for my education. So I went with mechanics just because nobody else in my unit did" He looks up at the sky. "We each decided to specialize in one area. Some were better than others. But after we finished our education we would teach each other the useful bits of information. So I've got a lot of knowledge up here" He taps his forehead.
Amy leans next to Lucas. "That's such a cool idea, but was it really that effective? Even when me and my friends studied together we would barely pass the test"
Lucas shrugs. "I was probably the worse among my unit. Everyone else had their own specialty and they just taught me. I was a good learner and I had some things that got me into the unit to begin with. But everyone else was just that unique"
"Sounds like….. Super Special Forces to me" Andrea says.
"Hahaha" Lucas can't help from laughing. "He gazed over at Andrea. "Yep, that's me. Lucas Meyer of the Super Special Forces Unit" He jokes. He takes a breath before continuing. "But seriously, you aren't far off. It was a special special ops team. We weren't just tossed together…. well, we were. But we were specifically thrown together. But by the end of my service... I was the only original member of my unit"
"Lucas…" Amy looks at Lucas in a new light.
"Shit" Lucas facepalms. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just blurt all that out" He looks at the sisters through his fingers. "Can you keep the military thing a secret from the others? Only Shane and Lori know. I'd rather keep that a secret. And the last part, I'd also like to keep that an even bigger secret. Guess I let my guard down with you two. Sorry"
Andrea is forced to hold her fishing rod tightly as a fish takes the bait. "Don't feel bad. It's good to talk about that kinda stuff. Did you do therapy?"
Lucas puts his elbows on his thighs and leans forward and looks at the water. "No…. I couldn't even talk about this with anyone without freaking out before. Surprised it's not acting up now" He looks at his slightly shaking left hand.
"We can listen if you want to talk" Amy puts her hand on his forearm.
Lucas shakes his head. "I don't think I can delve much deeper than I already have…." He looks apologetically at Amy. "But I appreciate the gesture. I'm a good listener if either of you ever need to talk too"
Amy gives a small smile. "I'll keep that in mind, and you better not just be saying that"
"You might want to take that back Lucas" Andrea jokes. "Amy will talk your ear off if you let her"
"I will not!" Amy pouts as she counters her sister.
"I don't know~" Lucas scratches his chin. "You strike me as the talkative type too Andrea. I'm here to listen. Can't say I have any advice or big words of encouragement or comfort. But I can promise the both of you that I'll listen and do what I can for you"
Andrea gets the fish out of the water. "H-Ha!" She cockily says as she tries to cover her emotions. "Got the first fish!"
Amy is left blushing and looking at her fishing pole and doesn't say anything.
"Good job, didn't know this was a competition" Lucas smirks. "I'll catch up soon enough"
——————
Dale sits in his lawn chair on top of his RV and watches the three out on the water for a few minutes as he reminisces his youthful days when he took his wife out on the water. He then turns to watch the woods. There were also the cliffs that gave them some natural protection and made pinpointing the loud noises they make difficult. This was a good place.
Dale watches as people wake up and exit their tents.
People have their own social groups and haven't melded together and are still wary of eachother. Dale understands their hesitation, but wishes that a few of them won't be so extremely distant. And then there is Merle and Daryl.
Dale doesn't like Merle, but he tries to put up with him. Because even with him being such a bad person, he does have his moments of being Daryl's big brother. And that gives Dale some hope in Merle changing, but not much. And the fact that Merle is one of the few people that can actually hunt animals for food makes him valuable to the group.
Dale continues to people watch through the morning.
——————
Amy, Andrea, and Lucas come back for lunch and bring lots of fish with them.
Lucas and the sisters spent the entire morning casually talking and getting to know eachother. Even with Andrea's age difference Lucas was able to keep the conversation inclusive to everyone.
Andrea did end up catching the most fish. Lucas was second and Amy caught the least. But Amy was distracted for a good portion of the morning.
They go back to camp and surprise everyone with their spoils. They gut and clean the fish before cooking them over a fire and pass them out for lunch.
Afterwards Shane asks for someone to look after the kids while the parents do their jobs. It's something he had forgotten but figured the kids would be fine tagging along with their parents, but he was wrong. So now he was asking for a volunteer babysitter.
"I-I could watch the kids" Amy raises her hand.
Shane looks at the young woman. "Alright, Amy. You will be on kid duty for the time being"
"Haha… He said duty" Lucas covers his mouth and loudly says.
Shane sighs and looks at Lucas. "I forgot we had a giant manchild, you might also be tasked with babysitting Lucas. I'm sorry I'm advance Amy"
People laugh at Lucas' expense, but it manages to brighten the mood of the camp.
Amy was thinking she wouldn't mind spending more time with Lucas. And she actually didn't mind watching the kids.
After Shane finishes speaking about what to expect and some more basic rules everyone disperses. Andrea and Amy go talk with Dale and Lucas goes to talk with Shane.
"Shane, got a minute?" Lucas says as he follows behind the guy.
Shane turns around. "You've got one minute, go"
Lucas stops walking. "Tomorrow. I want to go to Atlanta tomorrow to look for my family. Bring me a list of supplies so I know what I'm looking for. Or can you point me in the direction of who would have the list?"
Shane doesn't look pleased. "I know I said we would let you look for your family. But I meant in like a week"
"Well, change of plans. I want to go sooner. And I'm not putting the camp at risk. I'll leave in the morning and come back before the day ends. I'll even bring back some goodies" Lucas puts his hands in his pockets.
Shane looks past Lucas and sees the other people still around the fire. "Alright. You can go tomorrow. But you have to ask people what they need and make the list yourself. Let me know when you leave tomorrow and when you come back. Understood?"
Lucas puts his heels together and salutes. "Sir, yes sir"
Shane turns around. "At ease of whatever it is, soldier"
Lucas rolls his eyes and goes back to camp. He grabs a notebook and goes around asking people what they need. It's mostly toilet paper, food, some medicine, some hygiene things, and other various random things.
He goes to Amy and Andrea. "I'm going over to Atlanta tomorrow morning, so here's the heads up. And I'm taking requests for things people need" Lucas flips to the next page in his notebook. "So any requests?"
——————
Lucas was in his truck and driving towards Atlanta. In order to get to his apartment he would have to go through some popular areas, so it wouldn't be easy and he hadn't even gotten into the city to check how bad the situation is. But he knows it's not good.
He parks his truck on the edge of the city and decides to scout on foot. Even if he doesn't see the walkers it doesn't mean they aren't hiding around the corner of the street.
Lucas has his pistol on his hip and his knife on the other. He's got more than one knife just to be safe.
And so he slowly makes his way into the city.
He doesn't find many as he follows a road inside and he's able to just avoid them entirely.
Lucas has to make it to his parents apartment which is on one of the upper floors. Getting to the building is difficult enough, but going through the building may or may not be even more challenging. It depends on how many people survived the Napalm, which probably is very few.
Lucas gets a few blocks into the city as the sun rises into the sky. His bag full of some random things he recognized on his list. He has had to cut through some buildings to avoid large groups of Walkers.
He's made it much farther than he had expected to be able to go. It's like the Walkers are grouping up and staying out of the sun when they have the opportunity to.
Along the way he has seen the destruction the Napalm had dealt to the city, but it had rained since. But that didn't wash away the corpses that were in the streets. Some still moved even after being so severely burnt. You really must destroy their brain in order to get rid of them for good.
There isn't much to say about the city. It's like a ghost town in certain parts while other parts are completely swarmed with walkers. He's only had to kill a few Walkers in the buildings. And he made sure they were stealth kills and made minimal noise.
Something he did like is that the city being relatively empty made for great views. His brain scanned areas and went through what could have happened.
Like in an office buildings lobby he saw papers strewn about. And bodies here and there. Office supplies scattered or in their original position. Something about exploring really struck a chord with him.
It's as if time had stopped in certain areas, like in the office work areas. There would be cubicles with family photos or cups of coffee that will never be touched again.
Lucas did take some art supplies, even if it wasn't on the list. Even if the adults don't use them, the kids might.
He makes it another block and finds an urgent care. There are a few walkers inside, but if he can clear them out it will be the safest place to get the medical supplies.
Lucas gets to the automatic doors and pushes them open gently. Luckily he is able to be quiet enough not to attract any unwanted attention. And once inside he counts 7 that he can see. But there are probably many more in the various rooms.
He grips his knife and makes his way to the counter. The walkers are all behind the counter where they seem to be trapped by a door that has been blocked by a chair.
Lucas moves the chair away from the door and gets ready to open it. The counter has glass blocking people from just jumping over the counter and it looks to have another exit at the other side. But that door is closed , which has trapped these walkers in here for who knows how long.
The walkers make groaning sounds and sometimes bump into eachother. So Lucas waits until he has prepared himself and opens the door.
*creak*
"Great" Lucas curses his luck. The door just had to make a sound as the walkers slowly turn towards him.
He lunges forward and plunges his blade into the back of the skull of a walker and it instantly kills it. He kicks the next walker on its chest and pushes it into two others as the stumble and fall.
Lucas takes his knife out of the first walker and brings it above his head. He brings it down on top of a walkers skull and it sinks all the way until the handle hit the skull.
As the second body hits the ground Lucas grabs his second knife from his right back pocket and shoved it through the temple of the third. And he uses this body to block the fourth. He takes the knife from the second kill with some effort and jabs the fourth's forehead. His blade breaking the skull and slicing its brain.
Lucas pushes the third and fourth body to the side as the last three get themselves up off the ground. Well, two made it off the ground and two managed to stand back up.
He side swipes the legs out from beneath the fifth walker and stabs its head as it hits the ground.
The walker on the ground tries to crawl towards him as the last standing walker shuffles towards him.
Lucas jumps back to avoid its grasp and lead it a few steps away from the crawler. He shuts the door that he entered just to be safe as he doesn't take his eyes off the pair in the room with him.
He takes a slow and steady breath in and slowly lets it out. He steps forward and brings his knife around the side and digs into the skull as he hears another crunch and squish sound.
Lucas continues his momentum and forces the 6th walker body onto the crawler which makes it an easy target. And so Lucas brings his right foot up and brings it crashing down on the crawlers skull and paints part of the floor in a dark red.
He stands still and crouches down behind the counter as he listens and waits for walkers to go towards his position. He hears the raspy voice of a few walkers on the other side of the door that leads further into the building. And he can hear at least 2 down the hall.
He stabilizes his slightly quicker breathing and his rapidly beating heart. He was quick, but it still took a good amount of energy to do what he did.
He wipes the blood and brains on a walkers clothes to clean it a bit. He waits a few seconds and then goes to the second door that he doesn't know where it leads. He puts his hand on the handle and turns it. He throws the door open and quickly scans the room.
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Quade_The_Unknown
Quade_The_Unknown 3454 words
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